


Drowning Lessons

by saintnoname



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Character Death, F/F, M/M, Violence, and Andy in general, introspective character piece, the Nicky/Joe is minor, the main focus is Andy/Quynh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:28:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25267615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saintnoname/pseuds/saintnoname
Summary: From the moment they met, Quynh and Andy knew their lives were irrevocably tied to each other.And their deaths.
Relationships: Andy | Andromache the Scythian/Quynh | Noriko, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 8
Kudos: 135





	Drowning Lessons

Andy’s breath caught as the blade slid into her side. She didn’t feel any pain until the blade was pulled out of her, but she knew she’d been stabbed the instant it happened. Her axe dropped from her hands as they moved to clutch her wound. As if they could keep the life from leaking out of her. She knew there wouldn’t be a second blow: the sword had already done its job. How many countless lives had it ended throughout time? All Andy knew was that hers would be the last it would end. It was _all_ coming to an end now.

Andy’s world had shrunk the second the blade pierced her. Nobody else in her family even noticed she’d been stabbed at first, which made the moment that much more private, that much more intimate. For a moment, there was nothing and no one but the woman who stabbed her. Then, she heard Nile’s scream. There were no words in the scream, just an anguished sound. It sounded like it was being ripped from Nile’s throat. Andy looked beyond the woman who’d stabbed her and gave Nile a small smile that apparently didn’t comfort her. Andy shook her head, indicating that Nile shouldn’t come any closer. Nile fell to her knees hopelessly. 

Further back, Joe and Nicky had turned to see what had made Nile scream like that. Joe instantly started toward them, but Nicky grabbed his arm firmly, holding him back. “Questo è tra loro,” Nicky said, which stalled his lover. Nicky’s hand slid down Joe’s arm to lace their fingers together, and Joe squeezed Nicky’s hand fiercely.

Nicky and Joe. As she fell, Andy found herself wondering if this was anything like what they’d experienced. She’d asked them more than once how many times they’d killed each other during their Holy War. They couldn’t answer that any more than she could answer when asked how old she was. When she asked them why they didn’t stop after the first few times, when it became obvious that neither of them was going to be able to kill the other for good—why they didn’t stop even after they began to develop feelings for each other—their only answer was that it wasn’t that simple. Now, as she knelt before the woman she’d never stopped loving despite centuries apart, she finally understood.

Andy picked back up the axe she’d dropped and Quynh didn’t move to stop her. With one final battle cry, Andy buried her axe in Quynh. The woman instantly dropped to the ground. Andy had been carrying that axe around for millennia. She didn’t get sentimental about much—immortality didn’t allow for that—but she did still carry some sentimentality for that axe. She had carried it around for millennia. She knew its every curve, every notch. She knew everything it could do and more. If she’d wanted to kill Quynh instantly, she could have. But they weren’t finished yet.

The two women lay on the ground facing each other. “You never came for me,” Quynh said, her hurt (not physical pain, but something much deeper) coming through in her voice.

“I did,” Andy ground out, brows furrowing. “I looked for you for decades. Couldn’t find you.”

“But I found you.”

“Yes, you did. You succeeded where I failed.” She extended her hand to Quynh, knowing she didn’t deserve to ask for this. It was her fault Quynh had gone through what she had gone through for hundreds of years. She never should have stopped searching.

Much to Andy’s relief, Quynh took her hand. Now, Andy could go in peace. She had to pay for giving up on Quynh, and she was, with her life. But Quynh forgave her, and was willing to go with her. Was there really any other way for them to go? Now, with minutes left of life, Andy felt the weight of centuries-old guilt finally slip from her.

“Just you and me?” Quynh asked.

“Until the end,” Andy confirmed.

Nile, Joe, and Nicky finally approached them as the darkness closed in around Andy one last time. Quynh followed shortly, and Nile said a quiet prayer as she closed their eyes. Of course she was sad. Of course she would mourn the loss of the woman who had introduced her to this world. But she also knew that finally, for the first time since they met, Andy was truly and fully at peace.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if Google Translate sucks. The Italian is supposed to be, "This is between them." Did it get it right?
> 
> Yes, the title is from an MCR song. I'm an eternal emo kid.


End file.
